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In March of this year we moved to the area of Riverside South in Ottawa, which is just a few minutes north of Manotick. Solutions At Hand was recently welcomed to the Ottawa South/Manotick region by a New Business Spotlight in the Runge Newspapers “Ottawa South Weekender” and “Manotick Review”. We’re pleased to be living and working in this area, which is a beautiful and vibrant part of Ottawa. Runge Newspapers..

Posted in In the Media | Comments Off on Welcome to Ottawa South/Manotick!

Solutions At Hand was featured in the Ottawa Sun. The story “Biz offers a helping handheld” was originally featured both on the Ottawa Sun Website and in the paper edition. The abridged web edition is featured below for your convenience, and a PDF of the full newspaper article can be found at the bottom of this page.

By RENNIE MacKENZIE, Ottawa Sun

Give two thumbs up to Michael Brown. He’s the one person in the region coaching people on how to efficiently put their digits to work on their handheld keypads and tap their way to a happier “digital lifestyle.” Solutions At Hand developed out of an interest and a hobby for the former Alcatel employee. So when he was laid off a year ago, it took only a month for Brown to establish his own company. He had already perceived the need for the type of service he felt he could provide.

“Many colleagues at Alcatel, even fairly technical people, used handheld computers, but never to their full potential,” he explains. “I found myself providing support and assistance to friends and colleagues, showing them how to make the most of their investment.”

FENDING FOR THEMSELVES

People were being left to fend for themselves when it came to adapting to mobile technology, he discovered.

The pocket-sized handheld computer or the “smart phone” can handle e-mail, word processing, databases, spreadsheets and
presentations, he says. When he makes his own pitch on how to use handheld technology to its full potential, he even plugs his own Palm device into a projector to deliver PowerPoint presentations.

After founding Solutions At Hand in January, Brown spent the first half of the year developing the content for his program and
presentations, creating much of it on his own handheld and using Palm office suites software. He began taking on clients in August and business has been growing steadily since, he says.

Corporate execs — people who need to make the most of the time they are away from the home and office — form the base of his clientele.

As Brown explains, handhelds and smart phones actually enable individuals to recover what would otherwise be lost time when they are away from their desks.

“These are people who want everything that’s on their desks with them when they’re on the go,” he says. Understandably, many of his clients are in the real estate sector.

Brown encourages Solutions At Hand clients to cut back on duplication.

One client, for example, can’t even read his own handwritten notes but by entering the data directly into his handheld, he will have clearer, more legible information and save time, he insists.

And that’s time that client could be spending with his family, Brown says.